NYPD faces lawsuit over Empire State shooting

New York -- A woman injured in last summer's shooting in front of the Empire State Building is suing the New York Police Department over its response to a gunman who had killed his co-worker just moments earlier.

Chenin Duclos, a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, filed the lawsuit Tuesday in state Supreme Court and is seeking an unspecified amount in damages.

Her attorney said police had "failed to train the officers for this type of situation."

"It's a clear issue of supervisory liability in the form of improper training, improper attention, possibly, improper hiring," said attorney Amy Marion.

Duclos was one of nine people injured by police gunfire and ricocheting bullets after police engaged 58-year-old Jeffrey Johnson, who had been laid off from his job as a designer of women's accessories before gunning down his co-worker.

"We have on tape the perpetrator pulled his gun out and tried to shoot at the cops," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in August. It is not clear if the shooter actually fired at authorities.

Police officers fired a total of 16 rounds; one officer shot nine, while another shot seven, the New York Police Department said. Johnson was killed in the gunfire. Police said all the passers-by who were injured were hit by police bullets.

The violence erupted just as visitors queued up to ascend the famous New York skyscraper in one of Manhattan's busiest neighborhoods.

City officials were not immediately available to comment on Tuesday's lawsuit.

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